Azem Syla released from detention

Former General Commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army and former PDK MP, Azem Syla, has been released from detention Monday.

Azem Syla and 21 other people are accused of organized crime related to illegal expropriation of land under social ownership near Pristina in the case known as the “Land”. His lawyer Besnik Berisha took Facebook to announce that Azem Syla has been released pending trial. “The Basic Court in Pristina has overturned the appeal of the prosecutor who asked extension of detention measure against Azem Syla and approved the appeal of the defence counsel asking Syla be released from detention pending trial,” Berisha wrote.

According to the indictment, members of this organized criminal group headed by Syla cooperated with one another, each having specific roles, to deprive Kosovo of its social property through criminal activities, including the falsification of decisions and other official documents, fraud, and activities related to corruption. In December 2016, Azem Syla plead not guilty. In February 2018 the case considered as one of the major organised crime cases has been transferred from EULEX to local judges. Two of the judges on a three-judge panel were staffed by EULEX, as well as the prosecutor who led the criminal investigations.